Website Design Trends 2020

While in the last several years we’ve seen some flashy and adventurous designs, 2020 will be the year for a good old throwback when it comes to web design and styles.

Just like the fashion industry, the occasional old school item with a touch of modernism can become quite the new piece to be admired.

We decided to take a look around the industry and this is what the experts are saying:

Minimalist Navigation Menus

With the rise of wearable devices like smartwatches, web design in general is thinking smaller. The area most affected by this is navigation, the glue that holds a website together.

Over the last few years, navigation has been getting simpler and simpler to accommodate extremely small devices and even smaller attention spans.

Extremely minimalist navigation takes away much of the difficulty in usability. The less a user has to think about moving around, the more time they spend immersed in the site, actually moving around instead of wondering how.

At the same time, imagery is becoming more important. Large-scale photos and videos are your chance to impress users—while only using the bare minimum of text.

Dark Mode website designs

Dark mode web designs not only look ultra-modern, but they’re easy on the eyes and make colors and design elements pop.

Sometimes the most visually stunning web design trends have practical beginnings. Dark themes are better for OLED screens—saving power and extending screen lifespans—but that utility doesn’t stop them from looking good. Dark backgrounds improve the visibility of other accent colors for truly dynamic design.

The dark mode trend is a great choice as this style can fit with many popular and custom styles using the old school look as well as using futuristic themes and features.

3D Visuals and elements

3D visuals have always delighted people; what held this trend back was technology and the (previously) expensive price tag. But with the rise and incorporation of 3D experiences and devices.

The technology is now in a place where you can design in 3D without NASA-tier equipment, opening the gates to more and more designers.

Until VR becomes more mainstream and cost-effective, hyper-realistic 3D that’s often taking up the whole screen is the best way to create an immersive experience for your site.

That’s not just an advantage for visuals, but for UX as well—interactive 3D design encourages users to stay longer. As 2020 unfolds, expect to see more immersive 3D web designs drawing users in and visually breaking down the boundaries between digital space and reality.

Don’t want to do the 3D jump just yet? You can leverage this similar style: Soft shadows and floating elements

This trend is all about creating depth. Like the 3D effect from above but want to tone it down? Soft shadows and floating elements add interest and depth and give your web page a “3D Lite” look. It’s not just graphics either: you can use this effect with text and photos, too.

Taking the principles of material design a step further, designers can adda little extra pizzazz to 2D layouts with soft drop shadows and layering elements on top of each other for extended depth.

These effects give the design a lightweight feel, as if the elements are floating over each other—a sharp contrast from classic, impenetrable flatdesign where the layers seem, well,flat.

Overall 2020 will be an exciting year for web design. The inclusion of old school concepts with the modern 3D and visual touches are sure to spark some creativity in the designer community.